Mirik, 11th April: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) Binay faction, leader Anit Thapa organized a mega rally in Mirik, under the theme ‘Change for Mirik, Save Mirik’ on Sunday. The rally is being speculated as an attempt to give a fight to Hill Trinamool Congress (TMC) president L.B. Rai. Thousands of party supporters participated in the rally and marched across the town before turning into a public meeting.
It is to recall, the TMC had assigned three seats of Darjeeling, Kurseong, and Kalimpong to its allies GJM Bimal faction and Binay faction. While both the parties announced their respective candidates, Hill TMC leader L.B Rai extended his support to the GJM Bimal faction.
Although considering the decision to be unexpected, however, GJM-02 General Secretary Anit Thapa claimed the relationship between TMC’s high command and his party is still strong. Meanwhile, the Hill TMC’s decision also did not sit well with some of its members; they resigned from the party and joined the Binay faction GJM.
According to the sources, Mirik falls under the Kurseong constituency and Kurseong is also the hometown of Anit Thapa. Losing the constituency will be a major blow to Thapa. Hence, the GJM leader led the mega rally to somewhat showcase his party’s strength and promote the ‘Change for Mirik’ ideology in the town.
Before addressing the said rally, Thapa visited the Okaiti Tea garden and approached people to vote in favour of his party. He further said that the love and support from the people have given him the motivation to work towards attaining victory in the upcoming assembly election.